I got into 3D Printing about a year and a half ago, most of that time was spent researching about and debating what printer I want to start with. I was saving up for the Makerbot's Thing-O-Matic which, at that time, was the only DIY kit available but it wasn't long until I came across the Printrbot's Kickstarter project which in fact couldn't have come at a better time. I was just shy from reaching the purchase price of the T.O.M. but since the Printrbot was half the price, I was able to upgrade to the Printrbot Plus. After 6 months of printing, I'm still fascinated at the fact that I can produce just about anything I want with a click of a button.
After printing a few random items here and there, I figure it was time to put the Printrbot into good use. After much thought, I decided I wanted to fulfill the RepRap creed, print another RepRap printer and give it to a friend. I thought about going for the Prusa Mendel since it is the most popular printer to build, just that it looks really complicated to build if you have no idea what you're doing. Just by looking at it is enough to second guess yourself. I couldn't imagine dumping a pile of plastic onto someones lap and say "good luck!" I would be such a horrible friend. The Printrbot/Wallace was another option since both were designed to be simple and minimalistic. The only thing I didn't like is the huge wooden piece for the print bed. I thought to myself, "what if the Printrbot had a fix Y frame similar to the Prusa?" and after saying so many "what ifs" to myself, I figured, "shit, I have an engineering degree, how hard can it be to develop my own reprap printer?" Easy for me to say. So after spending many hours reading blogs, studying other open source 3D printers such as Lulzbot TK-0, Prusa i3, Mosaic, MendleMax, Ordbot, Wallace, etc, and writing down ideas, it was time to start developing my own 3D Printer.
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